Southsands out of time as perfect record goes
THE perfect winning record for Southsands’ third team came to an end, as they could only muster a losing draw over fifth division promotion rivals Crosby II in week five of the ‘Master Lock & Safe’ Southport and District Badminton League.
With three sides looking to break away from the chasing pack and two of them facing each other this past week, collecting the full three points was crucial.
Crosby looked to have secured the ideal start with a 21-11, 24-22 win by Jack Foster and Rachel Choong in the opening mixed doubles contest.
But it was Southsands that responded the better after that setback.
A tough three-set win for John Baldwin and Sally Kearns as well as a comfortable 21-15, 21-8 win for Andy Slater and team captain Anita Pretty turned the momentum in the favour of the home team.
The tie ended up level at 2-2 at the halfway point, following a straights set win for Crosby’s fourth mixed pair.
The match of the night belonged to the first of the two men’s doubles encounters.
Taking the bragging rights were Southsands’ Baldwin and playing partner Neil Griffith, who overcame the test of Foster and Phil Olsen in a three-set thriller 14-21, 21-13, 22-20.
While Crosby took both the ladies doubles matches in straight sets, it was down to second men’s doubles match of the evening.
A 21-19, 21-15 win for Slater and partner Brian Andersen meant the tie would finish 4-4 and it would be down to number of sets won to determine who got the extra point.
With Crosby losing the only contests that were taken to a deciding set, those extra set wins gave the important winning draw.
That result has closed the gap to Southsands at the top to just two points. But with unbeaten Churchtown having games in hand in third place, this fight to become fifth division champions is far from over.
In other division five action, St. Cuthberts III recorded their first win of the season in impressive style.
Their 7-1 win at Mawdesley V takes them out of the relegation zone and puts their opponents into the bottom two.
There was another 7-1 win, this time for Woodvale VII over West End Park III.
That results moves them into the top half for the time being.
There was more success for Crosby, as their first team pulled away an important 5-3 win over Burscough Pioneers.
Wins in both of the men’s doubles and an important three-set win in the first of the women’s doubles encounters was the deciding factor to maintain Crosby’s one hundred percent winning record.
Also moving to five wins out of five was the very strong Churchtown III, who saw off strugglers Hesketh Bank 7-1.
There was a surprise result, as Southsands suffered their first loss of the season.
They suffered a losing draw to bottom-half side Woodvale III, who showed great resilience to coming back to claim two points for their efforts.
In division three, West End Park II currently lead the way. A strong start in the mixed doubles saw them maintain that gap for the remainder of the contest and claim a 5-3 away at Mawdesley III.
But with second and third place sides Woodvale IV and Tarleton II each having a game in hand, West End Park’s time at the top may be temporary.
As for said teams, Woodvale IV produced their best performance of the season to oust fellow promotion hopefuls Ormskirk II by a score of 6-2.
For Tarleton, it was an impressive 7-1 win against the always dangerous Southport III.
There were also wins for Burscough Pioneers II and Southsands II, who each took care of Southport IV and Woodvale respectively.
The build-up to ‘the big four’ clashing in the league’s top division is almost here.
For now, it was five wins in a row for Churchtown and Woodvale as they both recorded 8-0 wins over midtable side Southport and bottom side Ormskirk.
Meanwhile, Churchtown cemented their challenge for a top half finish after a strong and solid 7-1 win over a Southport II who remain pointless.
For West End Park, they collected their first win three points of the season with an impreesive 7-1 home victory over Woodvale II.
In division four, the perfect start to the season for Churchtown IV continues as they quickly saw off bottom side Formby II in white-wash fashion with their second 8-0 win of the season.
As for the league’s seventh division, Churchtown VII make it four wins out of four after defeating West End Park IV in a battle between top and bottom.
For more on the latest news and latest league tables, be sure to check out the league’s official website, www. southportbadminton.com. Also, make sure you like the league’s official Facebook page.